Reports: An iconic agreement has been inked between the Tampa Bay Rays and a prominent player from an opposing team.

Over the past four years, Jadon Bercovich has been a San Diego State Trojan. The San Diego State Aztecs Former Damonte Ranch student and right-handed pitcher Jadon Bercovich has inked a deal to play with the Tampa Bay Rays, skipping his senior year of college to pursue a professional baseball career.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder had an 8.24 ERA in 25 appearances as a redshirt junior for the Aztecs, but his interesting tools led to a contract offer. He went 1-2 with the team. As a redshirt freshman in 2022, Bercovich made 14 appearances and had a 2.35 ERA while limiting hitters to a.195 average.

In 43 games for San Diego State, he appeared twice, went five innings, and had an earned run average of 6.20. Following extensive elbow surgery in 2022, Bercovich made a brief 2023 season comeback, appearing in four games and sporting a 7.36 ERA.

He ranked fourth on the squad in 2024 with 39.1 innings pitched and 51 strikeouts out of 155 batters faced. His 38 runs allowed included 36 earned, three home runs, and twenty-four walks, on 45 hits. The COVID-19 pandemic ended Bercovich’s senior year at Damonte Ranch after he had only played in one game.

He went the distance in that game against Nevada Union, striking out eleven batters while allowing just one hit, one run, and three walks over five innings. While a sophomore and junior at Damonte Ranch, Bercovich was named to the All-Northern 4A team and helped his team reach the regional playoffs twice.

Even though Bercovich was not picked in the Major League Baseball 20-round draft earlier this month, he was able to sign a free agent contract with Tampa Bay despite not being drafted since he had been out of high school for at least three years. After redshirting in 2021, he might have gone back to San Diego State for another year of college.

Among Nevada’s 2020 high school right-handed pitchers, Bercovich was ranked second by Perfect Game and fourth in the state as a whole. He was ranked as the third-best collegiate senior pitcher going into the 2024 season by Perfect Game. No information about his deal with the Rays was made public.

During spring training, Robby Snelling, a prospect for the San Diego Padres, poses for a portrait. Getty Images/Norm Hall Among the 54 players chosen to this month’s MLB All-Stars Futures Game are Robby Snelling, a native of Reno, and Deyvison De Los Santos, an Aces farmhand. As a component of the All-Star festivities, the Futures Game will include prospects from each of the thirty major-league franchises.

The Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Park will host the game on July 13 at 1:10 p.m. Pacific time. Peacock will do the airing. Snelling, a product of McQueen High, is now playing professionally for the second full season. With an 11-3 record and a 1.82 ERA in 22 starts across three levels, the 21-year-old was a top minor league pitcher last season.

He was honored as the minor league pitcher of the year by Baseball America after striking out 118 batters in 103.2 innings. After getting off to a good start this season, Snelling has been struggling recently after breaking camp at Double-A San Antonio. After making seven outings, the left-hander’s ERA increased to 3.44 from 1.98 in his first three starts.

He has struggled in his previous six outings, with four of those resulting in earned run totals of five or more. He has a 10.33 ERA and 31 earned runs in 27 innings over that six-game stretch. Snelling has made 13 starts this season, going 1-8 with a 6.49 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 61 innings pitched. In the lower leagues, Snelling is still ranked 49th overall by MLB Pipeline.

After catcher Ethan Salas, who was invited to the Future Games and ranked sixth overall, he is the Padres’ No. 2 prospect. Snelling will make an appearance in the festivities leading up to the MLB All-Star game, which is nothing new. Attending both the high school All-American game and the home run derby at Coors Field in 2021 was an honor for him.

When he was a minor leaguer, De Los Santos was a top hitter. With a combined.349/.400/.689 batting line, the corner infielder has led the minors in home runs (26), hits (101), and total bases (199) while playing for Double-A Amarillo and Triple-A Reno. With 76 RBI, he is now in second place. In 36 games since making his Aces debut on May 21, the 21-year-old has batted.326 with 12 home runs, 25 RBIs, and extra base hits. His stellar June came to a close on Sunday when he hit a grand slam home run (463 feet), added eight RBI, and hit another single.

When the Cleveland Guardians couldn’t find room on their 26-man roster for De Los Santos, the Diamondbacks offered him back to him after he was taken in the Rule-5 draft last offseason. Baseball Prospectus ranks De Los Santos as the fourteenth best prospect in Arizona’s system. Joining him in the Futures Game are two minor leaguers from the Diamondbacks:

An outfielder named Druw Jones, who ranks third in the minor leagues and 80th overall for Arizona’s prospect pool.